Waiting For You
by Pumples
Summary: While waiting for her new husband to return from 'work', Lois looks back over the first few months of her married life.


Rated K  
Completed August 17th 2006**  
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The evening was warm out, with a light breeze sashaying in between the skyscrapers of Metropolis. It was the kind of evening that made Lois Lane appreciate her inner city apartment, with its art-deco style balcony more than ever. It had been a perfect midsummer's day, which had been encored by an even more incredible sunset; a canvas of frosted pink muddled with shades of coral. Now the skies had darkened and the light scattering of stars, which were usually masked by the lights of the city, were twinkling in their brilliance.

It had been a lousy day for Lois Lane. A combination of looming deadlines and a heavy assignment had kept her confined to her desk for most of the morning and all of the afternoon. Now, however, the copy was completed and off to the presses, leaving Lois free to enjoy the rest of her evening. Albeit alone.

Now, as she stood on the balcony gazing up at the infinite stars, she felt the stresses of the day gradually leave her. She loved coming outside to relax, especially as the balcony had a perfect view of the skyline of Metropolis, and yet, somehow managed to be invisible to it. The stars had become her dear companions, and although she had yet to learn their names, between them she had shared a number of heart-to-hearts since she had moved into the apartment. They knew her fears, her turmoil's and delights, and even shared a lasting connection with her one, true, undying love.

The breeze cooled slightly, and her bare arms began to prickle with the sensation. Despite her initial better judgement, she had decided to forgo her usual attire of sweat pants and a familiar baggy T-shirt that she nearly always wore when she found herself alone in the apartment, and instead had decided on a classy, yet flirty, black dress.

The dress, despite being her favourite, failed to insulate her at all, and she raised her hands to her arms in an effort to rub some warmth back into them.

The sensation that she expected to feel was somewhat different to what she actually experienced, and glancing down at her arms, where she fully expected to see her hands, she was momentarily taken aback when she saw someone else's there instead. They were large, strong, yet gentle hands, and she smiled as she recognised them.

Turning around, Lois lifted her chin up slightly, knowing exactly where to look to meet the two eyes that had become as familiar to her as her own. They were as constant and as strong as the stars above her and, in her eyes, far more breathtaking and awe inspiring.

She reached up to wrap her arms around their owner's neck, as he carefully took a step down onto the balcony. She had been waiting all day for this moment. She loved meeting him when he came home from work, knowing that, with any luck, she wouldn't have to say goodbye again for at least another eight hours. Despite his never-ending workload, when Superman came home after his final evening's patrol around the streets of Metropolis, he was home with full intentions to stay.

Lois was still shivering slightly when he shortened the gap between them to plant a lingering kiss on her lips. She couldn't tell whether she was still cold, or whether the excitement and delight of having him in her arms again had caused her to break out in goosebumps. Either way, she didn't care.

Greeting him on the balcony each night had become a habit for her. It didn't always work out as clockwork as she would have liked, with him either being detained on a big 'life saving' mission, or her being distracted with a number of chores, but when it did, it reminded Lois once again how wonderful it felt to be married to Superman.

Three months had passed since they had purchased their first home together in the city. Initially, Lois had moved into Clark's apartment after the honeymoon. Her place, as she had explained to him at the time, had too many unsavoury memories of the past for her to feel happy starting her married life there.

Clark's apartment had always been a place of solitude for both of them, and so it had seemed the perfect place for them to start out in. It had been the home where Clark had been able to spend time being 'himself' away from prying eyes, and the place that Lois had always come to in moments of fear and distress. Its friendly, casual atmosphere and décor that was so 'Clark' was both comforting and attractive.

Surprisingly, finding their new apartment had been a lot easier than they had both expected it to be. Naturally, they had both started out with different requirements for their joint home. Most importantly, however, they had both been looking for somewhere Clark could come home to as either Superman, or as Clark Kent.

Superman had been the first to lay eyes on the apartment. From the air, of course. It had been secluded enough for him to feel comfortable taking a closer look. Despite his history, now he had won the girl, his days of hovering outside windows were over. It wasn't a particularly large apartment, consisting only of a few medium sized rooms, a small bathroom and, of course, the all-important balcony. Clark had been happily confident that there was a sufficient lack of space for them both to be happily falling over each other for many years to come. It hadn't exactly been love at first sight for Lois, but she had cordially agreed that there was enough 'potential', as she liked to say, to keep them both happy.

She could never have imagined that she would ever have been content compromising on something like interior design, but she had, in fact, been happy to co-operate. Now, in her eyes, the apartment looked better than she could ever have imagined, even if she had decorated it by herself. This was thanks, in most part, to Clark's ability to paint four walls in a matter of microseconds, and his intense patience when she changed her mind, at the last minute, about the colour of the walls.

"You're cold." Clark announced, rubbing his hands gently up and down her arms in an attempt to draw some warmth back into them. Lois hadn't noticed herself, but the goosebumps she had experienced momentarily had stealthily transformed themselves into shivers, and now her body was taken over with them.

"I don't want to go back inside." She announced, knowing instinctively that unless she said something, Clark's next move would be to escort her somewhere warmer, without argument. He smiled at her intuition.

"Did I say anything?" He chuckled, lifting the edges of his cape from his side and wrapping both of his arms, taking the cape with them, around her shoulders. If she wasn't going to allow him to take her somewhere warm, he would have to do the warming himself.

"I know you." She replied, watching his eyes dance with amusement, "You've always been too concerned with my welfare for your own good."

At this, Clark couldn't help but laugh out loud, a sound that always brought an unstoppable smile to Lois' face.

"It's just as well that I am, " He replied with mock seriousness, "Or who knows where you would be right now."

Lois couldn't help but chuckle herself at his response. He was completely right. Without Clark, or rather Superman, she would most probably have been killed a long time ago, or else stuck in a permanent full-body cast.

"Then you'd better stay close." She flirted, shortening the gap between them even further until her chest was pressed firmly against his. "Who knows what mischief I might get myself into this evening." She leaned in to steal a kiss, knowing fully well that by now, Clark was fully at her mercy.

"So, what have you got planned for us out on the balcony then?" Clark asked, interpreting the look in Lois' eyes as a sign that she had some hidden agenda. He wasn't wrong. The glint in her eye sparkled uncontrollably as she gazed up at him with a smile on her face.

"Actually, I wasn't thinking so much **on** the balcony..." She began, causing Clark to raise his eyebrows in anticipation. Yes, he thought to himself, she definitely has something planned. "I was thinking more… up there." She gestured, with a brief nod of her head at the glistening night sky above her.

"Up there?" Clark repeated, following her gaze, feigning innocence. "What could we possibly do up there?" The twinkle in his eyes contradicted his innocent pretence, and sent a shiver of electricity straight up Lois' spine.

She crept up onto her tiptoes, careful not to brush the cape too far off of her shoulders. When her lips were directly opposite his ear she let out a breathy whisper. "Fly. Take me flying Clark."

She heard him gulp involuntarily and realised that, despite her intentions, she was most likely making him want to take her flying another way. She increased the separation between his ear and her mouth and asked him again. "Please."

She stared up at his dark eyes, searching for an answer but receiving none. Instead, he pulled her closer and silently leaned in for a kiss. It wasn't passionate, or particularly fiery, but was enough to distract Lois from the fact that her feet were no longer touching the ground.

They pulled apart as they broke through the cloud barrier, causing Lois to let out a gasp of surprise and delight as she noticed where they were. It wasn't the first time he had distracted her while flying, and she hoped that it wouldn't be the last. His kisses dissolved her thoughts until she could only focus on him; just the way he liked it.

Despite never having had the confidence or assertiveness of other men she had known, Clark's kisses had always be anything but ordinary. In them she felt safe, desirable and unquestionably loved. The moment their lips connected Lois felt completely at peace and at one with him. Providing she could always escape in his kiss, she was sure that they could overcome anything.

Clark chuckled at her expression, proud of himself that he had once again managed to render her speechless. He loved her mannerisms when she was flying with him; so raw and full of wonder. Flying awoke the inner child that slumbered inside her, and allowed a freedom from the chains of adulthood that she had collected over the years. She felt comfortable expressing and enveloping herself in the feelings that engulfed her while flying, and Clark loved the fact that she would only ever be able to share those emotions with him.

"I love you." He whispered, unable to prevent himself from expressing his feelings for her any longer. Like Lois, he delighted in coming home to his beautiful, intelligent spouse, and loved nothing more than spending the entire evening in her presence.

His words drew her attention from the bustling city far below her feet, and she once again locked eyes with his. "I love you too." She whispered, unable once again to stop the grin that was spreading rapidly across her face.

Yes, she thought to herself, this had definitely been worth waiting for.

**THE END**


End file.
